Supporters could be banned from attending major sports until 2021. Government bosses are keen to get events like the football season restarted in the wake of the Covid-19 crisis, in a bid to give the nation a boost.
But Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his top level advisors fear it won't be safe to stage events with crowds until a vaccine for the virus is found.
This could be September at the earliest, but the wait could extend into the early stages of next year. Professor Chris Whitty, the Government's Chief Medical Officer, warned last month that the chances of having a vaccine within a calendar year were "incredibly small".